Project Description
Couple-Based Meditation for Lung Cancer Patients and Partners
Given the
incurable nature of metastatic lung cancer, quality of life is a primary
concern; yet, patients experience more debilitating
physical and psychological sequelae than patients with other solid tumors and
thus, have a high need for care and support. Spouses/partners are patients’ most important source of support and
care. Yet, caregiving is physically and emotionally taxing. Partners report
high rates of distress, fatigue, and sleep disturbances, which may compromise
the quality of care they are able to provide to the patient. Notably, partner quality
of life can influence patient quality of life and vice versa. Moreover, due to
limited life expectancy, both patients and their partners are vulnerable to
spiritual/ existential concerns (i.e., lack of meaning and peace, despair,
alienation) and report unmet spiritual needs. Although urgently needed,
couple-oriented psychosocial interventions for patients with metastatic disease
and their partners are generally lacking. Moreover, while spiritual
distress in advanced cancer patients is prevalent, interventions addressing
spiritual/existential concerns are scarce. Thus, the goal of this exploratory
research is to pilot test a couple-based meditation program for stage IV lung cancer patients and their
partners. In the “Heart-2-Heart” program, mindfulness and
compassion-based meditation training is used to facilitate emotional
disclosures of cancer-related concerns targeting psycho-spiritual
outcomes. We first examine the acceptability of this 4-session program
via focus groups and then feasibility with a single-arm trial prior to
launching a randomized controlled trial involving an attention control group.
Bio
Kathrin Milbury, PhD is an Assistant Professor in Department of Palliative, Rehabilitative & Integrative Medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center. She received a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Houston and completed postdoctoral fellowships in Psycho-Oncology and Integrative Medicine at MD Anderson. Since her postdoctoral training, her research has examined how dyadic processes influence cancer adjustment and cancer outcomes. Dr. Milbury’s current work focuses on examining dyadic mind-body interventions as a supportive care strategy for cancer patients facing a poor prognosis and their family caregivers.
Email: KMilbury@mdanderson.org